


Conversations with God

by Larathia



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larathia/pseuds/Larathia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It began as a songfic and then wandered very much in its own direction. Reeve is Cait's maker, Cait's God. And Cait comes to understand that a God that talks back is rarer than its own existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversations with God

Cait padded on cat-paws through the office corridors, careful to make sure the Shin-Ra Authority tag was visible on its shiny rhinestone collar. Its instructions had been quite clear; observe, transmit questions, but do not interact with the employees. Avoid interaction if possible.

Mostly the humans seemed to be focused entirely on electronic interaction screens, anyway, but Cait found a corner to sit in and listen as employees talked to each other.

"So, where're you planning to go for on vacation this year?"  
"I was thinking of visiting the hedge maze in Wutai this year."  
The other human was approving. "Got kids, then?"  
"Yeah, got a girl about five," said the theoretical vacationer. "She'll love it."

>>Master: Hedge Maze?  
>>>>It's a labyrinth where the borders are made of dense plant life. cf. "shrubbery", "labyrinth", "border hedge".  
[processing]  
>>Master: References suggest 'labyrinth' is intended as a punishment. Human is suggesting small!human will find enjoyable. Will be employing authorized downtime to engage in this activity. Why?  
>>>> It ties into free will, Cait. You may want to file this in that special folder I made for you, and look for patterns later.

~*~

The Gold Saucer employed a lot of bright colors, high-pitched noises at high decibels, and blinking lights to draw humans toward sites where the local currency could be spent. Cait watched it all, walking from attraction to attraction on its new Mog, with curiosity independent of its assignment. Written records suggested that this place was desirable to humans, filled with things they wanted.

But if they _wanted_ loud sounds, bright colors and flashing lights, why did only the Gold Saucer have them?

Sometimes, the players on the slot games would punch the Mog and say, "For Luck". Cait had no idea why humans would do this, but employed the fortune telling program Reeve had provided for such occasions anyway. Sometimes, the humans were appreciative. Other times they would be offended. It was very confusing and did not appear to relate to the fortune that was offered.

~*~

The 'special folder' was getting a lot of use among these strange humans. They were _all_ doing very weird things, which made no logical sense whatsoever. Cloud kept staring into space whenever anyone wasn't talking to him, which Cait tentatively categorized as 'recharging', except that food wasn't involved. Possibly it was a power-saving mode. Yuffie kept picking up small items that Cait's programming defined as 'flagged' - owned by someone. And Cid and Barrett both yelled at her for it, rather a lot, but that didn't stop Yuffie from doing it. Cait wasn't sure if that meant she was slow to incorporate new concepts into her programming or if she simply regarded the small objects as holding greater value than the punishment of censure. Reeve had clarified 'theft' as being a cost-benefit equation; the benefit of having [flagged!object] was greater than the penalty incurred for taking it from its owner.

>>Master: I understand 'theft' but why does Yuffie display amusement behavior?  
>>>> She's aware that neither Cid nor Barrett will actually hurt her. There isn't an actual penalty, therefore the dynamic is 'game'.  
[processing]  
>> Master: If she takes something from me, is that also a game?  
>>>> No. And she is aware of it. That is why she is not taking anything from you. [processing]  
>> Master: I do not want to hurt her.  
>>>> Very good. However, reference the files I sent. Sometimes it is necessary to enact censorious consequences to discourage undesirable behaviors. She cannot be allowed to take your materia. I am certain she will try - but only when she feels she needs to, because you cannot treat that as a game.  
[processing]  
>> Master: I still do not want to hurt her.  
>>>> Then continue to make sure she knows that you will have to, if she takes what is yours. You cannot control the actions of any human, but awareness of non-negotiable consequences can serve as a deterrent.  
[processing]  
>> Master: This relates to the concerns regarding the small!human Marlene?  
>>>> Very good! Yes, it does. You're learning quickly.

~*~

Sometimes Cait wondered why the humans didn't attack it. It did endeavor to give the humans many causes not to, but simple arithmetic (greater benefits of having a companion than consequences of having said companion) didn't always work with humans. And they were very clear about their distrust and dislike.

Except Aerith, who appeared to think the Mog was the most comfortable pillow it was possible to have. The only factor Cait could think of for why she should be the exception was the information that she was only half-human. There was no available data on 'Ancient' that wasn't also flagged 'classified' by Hojo, so Cait simply observed. Its initial conclusion was that Ancients were significantly more nonviolent than humans. But it had also seen Aerith clubbing things to death with her staff, so it was still in the process of determining _how much_ more nonviolent. Or if it could even be reliably quantified.

~*~

The world was full of humans doing strange things. Places where towns worshipped objects, or built objects as centers of worship, though Cait couldn't tell what the objects were meant to do, or be, or represent. Clearly humans also had makers (a concept with which Reeve agreed, although he was very clear about the divisions among humans on the subject and stated that Cait would learn more by observation than by asking questions), but beyond being aware of this knew nothing about said maker that could be affirmed.

Maybe their maker had died. Humans died. Reeve would die. There would be no more maker then to ask questions of. The idea made Cait feel very alone. Reeve was always just a transmission away, though he seemed to show greater approval when Cait tried to understand things on its own. Always welcoming. Always _answering_.

~Theory: Humans experience distress because their maker does not, possibly can not, answer.~

It went into the special folder.

And Cait made sure to get thorough footage of the gates of Wutai, and the statues, and the rockets. There was no common ground, if one was looking for a single maker, but perhaps the main thing was the expression of the searching. 

>>Master: Receiving?  
>>>> Yes, Cait. What is it you need?  
>> Master: You have provided it.

~*~

The Temple rose high into the air, even above the ancient trees. Cait's mechanical eyes took a variety of stills as well as video footage of it as they entered. Along with footage of the wounded Turk, because there were subroutines in place about Shin-Ra employees, though the overriding 'undercover' programming (and a lack of any data as to what would be helpful) kept Cait from attempting to render assistance. The footage would make certain that a medcopter would be en route as soon as it could be arranged.

Leaving the bleeding Turk was upsetting though. And Cait did not understand why. There was nothing in the programming about being upset.

>>Master: Am I malfunctioning?  
>>>> No. All systems read within accepted parameters.  
>> Master: Why am I upset?  
>>>> Because you're growing beyond your predefined parameters.   
>> Master: This is good?  
>>>> This is very good, Cait. Don't worry about Tseng. There's already a copter on the way. He'll make it.

And somehow that _did_ help. Although there was no logical reason for it to do so. Unless, perhaps, it was that whatever was happening was according to its maker's design. 

_Was_ that reassuring, though? When considered carefully? Its maker had also taken a small!human from its caretakers. And while the reasoning for this action had also been discussed, there was an imbalance in considering the probability of consequences being visited upon someone uninvolved in the primary situation.

Cait weighed the data as the group traversed the Temple's interior mazes, and concluded that its maker had reasons for everything he did, reasons which when viewed from a macro position had validity, but those reasons did not necessarily include Cait's own wellbeing in the equation. There were factors that could and would outweigh Cait's own survival.

That was _not_ reassuring. Not at all.

~*~

Dying. Cait was going to _die_. End. All its circuits and its frame and its Mog all crushed under the Temple. And the humans should understand but _didn't_ , all giving the smile-faces that it knew meant tolerance rather than understanding. All to get the Black Materia. So afraid.

>>>> Upload in progress.  
>>>> Cait, you are going to be okay. Proceed.  
>> Master: I am going to end!  
>>>> Trust me, you're not. I have a new body all made for you.  
>> But I am going to end!  
>>>> Either you trust me or you don't. Under the circumstances I advise trust, Cait. I've planned for this.  
>>>> I'm right here. Overseeing the whole transfer. You haven't got anything to worry about.

Its last thought, reaching for the materia was, _how did humans cope with the silence?_

>>>>Upload complete.

~*~

Reeve had been true to his word and Cait woke in the heart of Midgar, with Reeve holding a little tablet in his hand, checking system readouts. "There. What did I tell you? You're fine. Now we just have to get you back out to Avalanche."

"But-"

"No time, I'm afraid," said Reeve quickly, bustling Cait to the door. "They've got a very fast airship just to parachute you into the Temple area. You'll have to rely on transmissions."

Transmissions. It was more than humans had, and they kept going.

~*~

Reeve was _very_ interested in the City of the Ancients. He'd uploaded several informational files on natural geometry and artistic aesthetics as an explanation, and requested still-frames that met the mathematical requirements in addition to the usual surveillance footage (which was primarily recordings of any and all conversations or uncategorizable nonverbal behaviors).

>>Master: Why is Aerith confused in this environment?  
>>>> Clarify?  
>> If this is a city built by Ancients and Aerith is an Ancient then logically there should be greater resonance between Aerith and this location than is shown by others in this grouping. This is not the case.  
>> Culture has more to do with how you're raised than your genetics.  
>>>> If this is the case then why is Aerith not greatly similar to Shin-Ra employees?  
>> If you find the answer to that one, let me know. I'd like to know too.

Reluctantly, Cait filed the question in the 'special folder'.

~*~

Humans were certainly full of inexplicable behaviors. None of them wanted to explore the city of the Ancients now that Aerith was dead. Why this should be so, Cait could not guess. The locale still seemed to fulfil all the requirements of 'aesthetically pleasing to human eyes' that it did before.

In adding the question to the Special Folder, Cait noted a symmetry with the previously noted question of the hedge maze. The same sort of incongruity between environment and human behavior. There was something here to be understood; a pattern that was graspable. However, the data remained insufficient.

~*~

The Lifestream had risen. And the humans were glad - yes, glad seemed the right word - to have survived. The world was changing, swimming under the bright energy flows and Cid flew them above but Cait's attention was on the forward screens.

Reeve wasn't answering. Cait was sending out pings and queries and receiving nothing back.

The end of the _world_ wasn't as terrifying as receiving no reply from its maker. 

"I'm sure he's fine," Tifa offered, to Cait's worried expression.

(Worry. Showing worry. But what happened to the Plan if the Maker was gone?) 

"Something's happened or he would answer me," said Cait.

The worry was well-founded as the airship approached where Midgar should be and found only ruins. The towering center of Shin-Ra HQ was toppled. 

No one tried telling Cait it would be okay _now_.

Humans survived the Maker's silence, but Cait wasn't human. Alive, or at least it - he - understood that that was what the feelings meant. That his life was independent of its maker's. That Reeve could be dead and Cait would still exist. That the central servers of Cait's memories could shut down and Cait would adapt, somehow.

It was not something Cait wanted to test. He punched his Mog. "Come on. Let's dig. Let's dig until we find him."

The others helped as they had time and energy - more than Reeve alone were trapped under the remains of Midgar - but Cait never stopped. Never stopped digging. Aiming his efforts where he knew Reeve would have been, mechanically precise measuring of the falling tower and counting of floors.

Would humans ever think the silence meant God couldn't answer, and go looking? Had they already? What had they found? With such thoughts Cait occupied himself as he and the Mog dug and dug. Pulling bodies from the rubble both living and dead but none were _him_.

Cait was therefore surprised, to say the least, when one day a very bedraggled Reeve, in the remains of his suit, called out - but not from under any rubble - "Cait, you can calm down! I'm okay. It's just the transmission equipment that got crushed."

Cait hopped off the mog to grab maker-friend-god in a hug. "I'm so glad. Don't you ever do that again."

Reeve bent down to pick Cait up, the easier to hug the cat back. "I'll try not to. I'm glad to see you too. Now, we have a lot of people to help."

"You betcha!"


End file.
